Lufia: The Legend Returns
Reviewed by Ghaleon
The third installment of the very popular Lufia series reached US
shores on September 19, 2001. A lot of people began to doubt the truth
of the news that there was going to be a third installment, as Lufia 3
had had two prior incarnations, one for either PS1 or PS2, and two
for Game Boy Color. The PSX incarnation I believe was going to be called
Lufia: The Beginning of a Legend, and would have been a prequel to
Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals. That of course didn't happen, and neither
did the game's second incarnation, which would have been for Game Boy
Color and would have been called Lufia: Ruins Chasers. In that story,
three-hundred years had passed since the events of Lufia and the Fortress
of Doom, and the world had been at peace. But Arek, master of the four
Sinistrals (who incidentally would finally have made his appearance had
this game come to light), is preparing to rally his children for a final
assault on the world of mortals. Again, the idea was scrapped when
Masahide Miata, (I believe he was the script author for the first two
games), brought the current story to light.
On top of all that, there was also some question as to whether Yasunori
Shiono, the music composer for the first two games, would in fact be
scoring the third chapter. In the event that Shiono decided not to take
the job (or was unable), composer Yukio Nakajima was hired to work on
Lufia 3's music. Then it was announced that Shiono would indeed be the
main composer, with Nakajima contributing as well. The result is a
soundtrack of such excellence that..well..I'll talk about that in a bit.
The story is as follows. It's been one-hundred years since the fall of
the Sinistrals at the hands of Lufia 1's hero. The world is peaceful and
groovy. Then Wein, the red-haired descendant of Maxim, meets Seena, a
fortuneteller who says she's on a mission to stop the Sinistrals. Nothing
new I'll admit, but it wouldn't be Lufia without our four immortal friends.
This time the Sinistrals are aided, but not by Sir Arek, who shows up briefly
in Lufia 2's intro and is mentioned a few times thereafter. Instead, the
great god of flame, Balzak (or Zalbak as I've also heard him called), has
allied himself with Daos and his siblings in hopes of bringing Earth
under the domination of evil.
Music and Sound: 100 out of 100
The music itself is excellent. I have no problems with any of the tunes
I've heard so far, some of which you'll recognize if you've ever played
the prior Lufia games. One thing I like is that they decided to keep the
traditional victory fanfare from the prior games, as well as the classic
theme of the Fortress of Doom. That tune plays during the introductory
story (which was right on the mark until the second Doom Island War),
but I don't know if it actually plays when you're inside Doom Island. I
haven't made it that far yet. The only thing that could even begin to bring
down my perfect score isn't really the game's fault. It's the audio
hardware of the system in question. The GBC doesn't have the best
sound capability. Still, the music is good and the sounds work well
with the game, so I give audio a perfect.
Game Challenge: 10 out of 10
Unlike Lufia 2, this game does not feature the challenging and sometimes
frustrating Zelda style puzzles that we all came to love (or in some cases
loathe). It's not puzzle free though. Rather than complex puzzles involving
switches and blocks that have to be pushed around, Lufia 3 features
randomly generated dungeons (like the Ancient Cave in Lufia 2). These
dungeons are full of enemies and traps which you can uncover with your
sword (yes you still get to use it on the dungeon maps). Aside from the
normal slash move which cuts bushes, you have a Spirit Wave which can
break down walls into secret areas or uncover traps that might otherwise
hinder your progress. Bosses are challenging as well.
Game Play-Fun: 10 out of 10
IP attacks make a return here, but they take a new form. Rather than
equipping certain armors and weapons like in Lufia II, this game features
Ancient Texts, each with a specific ability. These can be taught to your
characters, and they use Spiritual Force or SF. To get this, you must defeat
monsters. Aside from the traditional Gold and Exp, you will receive a certain
number of LP (Learning Points), from each battle. LP serve the dual purpose
of allowing you to gain more SF and allowing you to learn magic, which you
do at churches, the same places where you save your progress in towns. Then
you can use the Wave option in your Ancient Text menu to convert LP into SF
for certain characters, who can then learn the texts. The abilities that can
be used at any given time depend somewhat on how your characters are
positioned on the battle grid. You have a 3X3 grid for your nine-character
party (there are twelve characters in all, but only nine can go into battle
at a time and only three will be active at a time). Characters will receive
SF from the characters around them. Depending on who's around you your
usable IP abilities might lean more toward healing and defense. One thing
though. If the front three characters all fall in battle, the game is over,
even if your others are completely healthy. As each character falls
another will replace him/her, but if the active three perish the game
ends, rather like The Lord of the Rings on SNES, where if either Aragorn
or Frodo perished the game would end. Keep that in mind.
Game Value: 100 out of 100
Buy this game! If you're a Lufia fan you shouldn't miss this!
Overall: 100 out of 100